Should I wait on buying a new iMac?

[C2x954]

I've had my heart set on the entry level 24" iMac for some time now. I have been checking the "Buyer's Guide" section on the forum for a good while and it's always said "Neutral - Mid product cycle." When I saw Snow Leopard was coming out soon I decided to wait for it to come out that way it would come installed on the system when I purchased it.

I checked the "Buyer's Guide" today and now it says "Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle." Should I wait it out or just pick one up now? I don't NEED one now but, I'm dying to get rid of my PC. When could an updated model be expected?

Thanks!

 

[mgridgaway]

Probably the end of the year or beginning of the 2010. Hopefully they'll be getting quad cores.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

My guess would be February / March 2010 for a proper iMac update. There are rumours of a price drop before then though (maybe October / November) ... at least in America. Here in New Zealand, the last "price drop" for the laptops actually meant price rose slightly here.

 

[yodermk]

Nehalem!!!!!

The new chips will be out in a form that should be suitable for iMac in about a month or two. It's hard to imagine Apple waiting a long time to put them in.

Should be absolutely worth the wait. (Unless, of course, you NEED it now.)

 

[wesleyh]

Nehalem!!!!!

The new chips will be out in a form that should be suitable for iMac in about a month or two. It's hard to imagine Apple waiting a long time to put them in.

Should be absolutely worth the wait. (Unless, of course, you NEED it now.)

And what chips might that be?

 

[SwiftLives]

My advice - wait until the end of September. If no new iMacs materialize, then you'll be waiting until January.

Of course, an October release isn't exactly unheard of.

 

[Hellhammer]

Probably the end of the year or beginning of the 2010. Hopefully they'll be getting quad cores.

No quad-core before late 2010. Next step will be Arrandale.

Nehalem!!!!!

The new chips will be out in a form that should be suitable for iMac in about a month or two. It's hard to imagine Apple waiting a long time to put them in.

Should be absolutely worth the wait. (Unless, of course, you NEED it now.)

If you mean Clarksfield, you're wrong. We won't see them.

Early 2010 when Arrandale comes, we will see an update.

 

[steve knight]

wait about 3 years then they will be really updated.
waiting for a computer update is like waiting on a orgasm. unsatisfying and another will be along soon enough. but with apple you never know when you will get lucky.

 

[Eric S.]

Probably the end of the year or beginning of the 2010. Hopefully they'll be getting quad cores.

Arrandale - dual-core but "hyperthreaded," so four virtual cpus.

 

[C2x954]

My advice - wait until the end of September. If no new iMacs materialize, then you'll be waiting until January.

Of course, an October release isn't exactly unheard of.

Sounds good, I'll give it until October 1st. Unless I throw my PC out the window before then.

 

[jamin100]

my advice - buy when it suits you best!

 

[Buzz Bumble]

my advice - buy when it suits you best!

Nope. The best advice is buy now if you really NEED it. Otherwise wait and buy a month or two after the next update - that way you'll get the newst machine possible that has had any bug fixes and won't be replaced for at least five months (with a speed bump) or nearly a year (with a real update).

The same basic rule there goes for software and other company's hardware (buy the new Mac OS or new version of Adobe software a couple of months after release).

 

[Cheffy Dave]

Probably the end of the year or beginning of the 2010. Hopefully they'll be getting quad cores.

I so want Quad Cores, but due to heat issues, don't see it happening